ENAP and Colbún sign agreement

Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP) has announced that it has signed a ‘Natural Gas Supply with Reserved Regasification Capacity’ contract with Colbún S.A. for a 12-year period.

The contract will commence in January 2019, and will enable the continuity of operations at the Nehuenco Complex. It involves a minimum payment that could reach approximately US$400 million during the term of the agreement.

ENAP claims that both parties have signed a supply contract, which is effective from 2016 to 2018, and had previously signed a similar contract for 2015. Therefore, this latest agreement extends the companies’ commercial relationship in the long-term.

Marcelo Tokman, the CEO of ENAP, said: “With this agreement, ENAP ensures the placement of its gas in a time horizon that allows giving sustainability to our LNG business. With this agreement, ENAP continues to consolidate its position in the natural gas market, fulfilling its mandate on the energy agenda to boost natural gas development for homes, industrial use and electricity generation."

Thomas Keller, the CEO of Colbún, added: “This agreement allows us to have direct access to the international LNG market, which increases our options to operate Nehuenco and makes them more flexible. In addition, this is good news for the national energy matrix, because it will allow the use of Colbún’s generation infrastructure already available and therefore, contribute to a secure and competitive supply for the electrical system."

The agreement includes the delivery of natural gas from the GNL and regasification service, enabling Colbún to hire shipments of ENAP or third parties to access such resources.